1 LECTURE 6 GPRS
What is GPRS? 2 General Packet Radio Service is an overlay on top of GSM physical layer and network entities It extends data capabilities of GSM and provides connection to external packet data networks through the GSM infrastructure Short access time to the network for independent short packets (500 1000 bytes) No hardware changes to the BTS/BSC Easy to scale Support for both voice/data and data only terminals High throughput (up to 200 kbps) User-friendly billing J
GPRS System Architecture 3 MS BTS BSC G i SGSN G n GGSN Intra PLMN backbone network (IP based) MS BTS HLR BSC D G p U m A MSC
New Network Entities 4 GPRS Support Node (GSN) Responsible for delivery and routing of data packets between the mobile station and external packet network Two types: n Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) n Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) GPRS Register (GR) co-located with the HLR Stores routing information and maps IMSI to a PDN address (IP address for example)
Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 5 It controls access to MSs that may be attached to a group of BSCs This is called a routing area (RA) or service area of the SGSN It is responsible for delivery of packets to the MS in its service area and from the MS to the Internet It also performs the logical link management, authentication, and charging functions
Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 6 It acts as a logical interface to the Internet Maintains routing information related to a MS, so that it can route packets to the SGSN servicing the MS It analyses the PDN address of the MS and converts it to the corresponding IMSI
GPRS Signaling Plane 7 GPRS employs out of band signaling in support of actual data transmission Signaling between SGSN, HLR, VLR, EIR is similar to GSM and extends only the GPRS related functionality Based on Signaling System 7 Between the MS and SGSN, a GPRS mobility management and session management (GMM/SM) protocol is used for signaling purposes
GPRS Transport Plane 8 Application IP / X.25 IP / X.25 IP / X.25 SNDCP LLC RLC MAC GSM PL RLC MAC GSM PL TLLI LLC Relay BSSGP Frame Relay L1bis SNDCP BSSGP Frame Relay L1bis Um Gb Gn Gi MS BSS SGSN GGSN LLC GTP TCP/IP L2 L1 TID GTP TCP/IP L2 L1 SNDCP: Subnetwork Dependent Convergence Protocol BSSGP: BSS Gateway Protocol GTP: GPRS Tunneling Protocol
RLC/MAC and Physical Layers 9 The physical layer is the same as GSM (uses GMSK) Functionalities include Forward error correction and indication of uncorrectable code words Interleaving of radio blocks Synchronization Monitoring of radio link signal quality Other functions similar to GSM
GPRS Vs GSM 10 GPRS allows a MS to transmit on multiple time slots of the same TDMA frame unlike GSM A very flexible channel allocation is possible since 1-8 time slots can be allocated per TDMA frame to a single MS Uplink and downlink slots can be allocated differently asymmetric data traffic Some channels may be allocated for GPRS. These are called Packet Data Channels (PDCH)
Allocation of Radio Resources 11 A cell may or may not support GPRS!! Radio resources are dynamically allocated between GSM and GPRS services GPRS information is broadcast on the CCHs PDCHs may be dynamically allocated or de-allocated by the network (usually the BSC) If a MS is unaware that the PDCH has been deallocated, it may cause interference. Fast release of PDCHs is achieved by a broadcast of de-allocation message on a PACCH
Medium Access 12 Uplink and downlink transmissions are independent Medium access protocol is called Master-Slave Dynamic Rate Access or MSDRA Organization of time-slot assignment is done centrally by the BSS A master PDCH includes common control channels that carry the signaling information required to initiate packet transfer The slave PDCH includes user data and dedicated signaling information
Logical GPRS Channels 13 Analogous to GSM, GPRS has certain traffic and control channels PDTCH à Packet Data Traffic Channel PBCCH àpacket BCCH PNCH: Packet Notification Channel PRACH: Packet Random Access Control Channel PAGCH : Packet Access Grant Channel PACCH: Packet Associated Control Channel Use to send ACKs for received packets PTCCH: Packet Timing-advance Control Channel is used for adaptive frame synchronization
Uplink Data Transfer 14 PRACH or RACH PAGCH or AGCH PACCH PACCH PDTCH PACCH PDTCH PACCH Packet Channel Request Packet immediate assgt. Packet Resource Request Packet Resource assgt. Frame Transmission Negative ACK Retransmission Acknowledgment. Random access Transmission BTS BSC
Comments on Uplink Data Transfer 15 If a MS does not get an ACK, it will back off for a random time and try again The Master-Slave mechanism utilizes a 3 bit uplink status flag or USF on the downlink A list of PDCHs and their USF are specified The Packet Resource or Immediate Assignment message indicates what USF state is reserved for the mobile on a PDCH Assignment can also be done so that a MS can send packets uninterrupted for a predetermined amount of time
Downlink Data Transfer 16 PPCH or PCH PRACH or RACH PAGCH or AGCH PACCH PACCH or PAGCH PDTCH PACCH PDTCH PACCH Packet Paging Request Packet Channel Request Packet immediate assgt. Packet Paging Response Packet Resource assgt. Frame Transmission Negative ACK Retransmission Acknowledgment. Paging Transmission BTS BSC
Comments on Downlink Data Transfer 17 Data transmission to a mobile can be interrupted if a high priority message needs to be sent Instead of paging, a resource assignment message may be sent to the MS if it is already in a ready state (see later)
LLC 18 The TLLI (Temporary Logical Link Identity) is used to identify a MS in the LLC header A logical link is created between the MS and the SGSN Performs sequence control, error recovery, flow control and encryption It has an acknowledged mode (with retransmission for network layer payloads) and an unacknowledged mode (for signaling and SMS) Supports various QoS classes
Attachment Procedure 19 Before accessing GPRS services, the MS must register with the GPRS network and become known to the PDN The MS performs an attachment procedure with an SGSN Authentication Check with GR etc. It is allocated a temporary logical link identity (TLLI) by the SGSN A PDP (packet data protocol) Context is created for the MS
PDP Context 20 For each session, a PDP context is created PDP Type: (e.g. IPv4) The PDP address assigned to the MS The requested QoS The GGSN address that serves the point of access to the PDN PDP context is stored in the MS, the SGSN, and the GGSN A user may have several PDP contexts enabled at a time The PDP address may be statically or dynamically assigned (static address is the common situation)
SNDCP:Sub-Network Dependent Convergence Protocol 21 Signaling SMS PDP SNDCP LLC TLLI RLC/MAC GSM PHY At the Mobile Station Supports a variety of network protocols (IP, X.25, CLNP etc.) All network layer packets share the same SNDCP It multiplexes and demultiplexes the network layer payload It forms the interface between the LLC and the network layer Handles packets based on QoS
Packet Transformation Data Flow 22 PH User Data Network Segment Segment Segment SNDCP Frame FH FCS LLC Segment Segment Segment Segment LLC RLC interface Block BH BCS Tail RLC/MAC Convolutional Encoding Burst Burst Burst Burst 456 bits 114 bits Physical
BSS Gateway Protocol BSSGP 23 Primary function is to relay radio related, QoS, and routing information between the BSS and SGSN Paging requests from SGSN Support flushing of old messages from BSS Also carries the LLC frame from the MS to the SGSN Many MS LLCs can be multiplexed over one BSSGP Gb interface is different from A interface Data transfer is unconfirmed between BSS and SGSN
GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) 24 Why GTP? Allows multi-protocol packets to be tunneled through the GPRS backbone A Tunnel ID (TID) is created using signaling plane that tracks the PDP context Multiplexing different payloads Use in mobility management
Mobility and Tunnel Management 25 BTS BSC LLC 1 HLR Gr VLR Gs External data network Gi BTS Abis BSC Gb SGSN Gn GGSN LLC 2 GTP 1 GTP 2 BTS BSC SGSN LLC 3 The two-level tunneling mechanism corresponds to a two level Mobility Management: LLC tunnels (or virtual circuits) correspond to small area mobility, while GTP tunnels correspond to wide area mobility.
Location Management 26 MS can be in three states In the IDLE state the MS is not reachable All PDP contexts are deleted In the STANDBY state, movement across routing areas are updated to the SGSN but not across cells In the READY state, every movement of the MS is indicated to the SGSN READY IDLE Timer Expiry STANDBY
Why three states? 27 If the MS updates its location too often, it consumes battery power and wastes the air-interface resources If it updates too infrequently, a system-wide paging is needed; this is also a waste of resources A standby state focuses the area Chance of packets reaching are medium A ready state pinpoints the area Chances of packets reaching are high
Routing Area Updates 28 Intra-SGSN RA Update The SGSN already has the user profile A new temporary mobile subscriber identity is issued as part of routing area update accept The Home GGSN and GR(HLR) need not be updated Inter-SGSN RA Update The new RA is serviced by a new SGSN The new SGSN requests the old SGSN to send the PDP contexts of the MS The new SGSN informs the home GGSN, the GR, and other GGSNs about the user s new routing context
Mobility Management in GPRS 29 Handoff Initiation The MS listens to the BCCH and decides which cell it has to select Proprietary algorithms are employed that use RSS, Cell ranking, Path loss, Power Budget, etc. An option exists where the network can ask the MS to report its measurements and ask it to make a handoff (as in GSM) Handoff Procedure Very similar to Mobile IP
Mobility Management BSC 30 BSC BTS SGSN Direction of movement BG Intra PLMN backbone network (IP based) Home PLMN GGSN 3 Inter PLMN backbone network BSC SGSN 2 HLR BG Data Network (Internet) Intra PLMN backbone network (IP based) 1 SGSN Visited PLMN GGSN Router Server Corporate LAN BTS
Steps in Mobility Management 31 1. RA Update to new SGSN 2. Communication between new and old SGSN 3. Communication between new SGSN and Home-GGSN/HLR The Home GGSN tunnels packets to the new SGSN The HLR deletes old SGSN information and includes the new SGSN information in the database The new SGSN decapsulates packets and forwards them to the MS
Limitations of GPRS 32 Limited cell capacity for all users Speeds much lower in reality Sub-optimal modulation Transit delays No store and forward n Popular SMS does have it
GPRS-136: GPRS and IS-136 33 Adaptation of GPRS to the IS-136 TDMA cellular standard Very similar to GPRS 30 khz physical channels instead of 200 khz physical channels Can use coherent 8-PSK in addition to p/4 DQPSK to increase throughput over a limited area => EDGE Hooks in the standard allow the possibility of 16-QAM, 16-PSK, or 16-DQPSK in the future
High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) 34 Use multiple circuit switched connections to transfer data! Slow and expensive Inefficient use of radio resources Migration path to full fledged third generation (3G) packet data services Customer base development
EDGE 35 Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution Data throughput speeds of up to 384 kb/s using existing GSM infrastructure. Idea: Use higher level modulation schemes like 8- PSK Disadvantage: Coverage is reduced Adaptive bit rates